Colonel Woodsaid, he felt it his duty to object to it. He then repeated the arguments he had used against it, a few nights ago; and thought this an unnecessary expenditure of the public money. The noble lord, in bringing forward the measure, had stated, as one of his chief reasons for doing so, the great increase which had taken place in all the necessaries of life, since these provisions were originally made. He allowed this to be the case; but these royal personages only felt the pressure in common with others; and that pressure was most severe on the great mass of the people, who were nearly borne down by taxes. He said he verily believed that, if he were to ask M. Talleyrand, the prime minister of Buonaparte, what mode he thought would be best to be pursued, in order to throw this country into the grasp and dominion of his master, he would say, it was to make the people dissatisfied with their government; make them dissatisfied with their taxes, and the people would be ready to throw themselves into the arms of Buonaparte. Those noble dukes held many places and emoluments, besides their original establishments of 12,000l. a year; and to make this addition to the public burthens, would, he thought, be one of the surest methods of making the people dissatisfied; and that at a moment when he would advise the noble lord to exert his every faculty and ability to make retrenchments, rather than add to the public burthens. He thought this measure ought to have been introduced by the noble lord before a secret or select committee, rather than by this mode; and that committee might have made enquiries, which would 1104 have enabled them to judge, and to have informed the house, whether this increase was actually necessary. As it now stood, he must object to the bill.
Mr. W. Smithexpressed his confidence, that his noble friend would not need the lecture on economy that had been just read to him. He could not avoid coinciding in some of the opinions of the hon. gent. who had just sat down. He praised highly the conduct of the duke of York, in declining to apply for any additional provision. Were the depreciation of money, and the increased prices of every article of life, alone to be considered, he was willing to admit, that the claim preferred was a just one. But there were other circumstances, which, in his opinion, ought to be attended to. It ought to be recollected, that several of the younger branches of the royal family enjoyed emoluments, independent of their parliamentary provision. It was with a view to ascertain those emoluments, that he had made his motion the other evening ; and really, until the papers, for which he had then moved, were on the table, he did not see how the house could, with propriety, pass the bill before them. It had been well observed by lord Bacon, that in some situations, voluntary poverty was a debt that a man owed to his country. Far was he from wishing, that the illustrious personages in question should he plunged, or allowed to remain, in poverty. He was solicitous, that they should not be deprived of the due appendages of their rank; but it became a question, whether, or not, the measure proposed was calculated to increase the respect that it was so desirable to secure to them?
Mr. Rosethought the increase that was proposed to the allowances of the younger branches of the royal family was very reasonable, and much less than was barely necessary to meet the depreciation of money since those allowances were fixed.
§ Lord H. Pettythought, that the only question was, whether, when the salaries of every subordinate person in the state had been, within a few years, so much increased, it was wise to exclude, from the benefit of that general augmentation, a class of persons whose splendour and dignity were so intimately connected with those of the nation. Alluding to the duke of York, he described his situation as very different from that of his royal brothers. The income of his royal highness, independent of his emoluments as commander 1105 in-chief, amounted to 26,000l. a year.— The bill was then read a 2d time.